Safe Homecoming: Vao Island Canoe Prow of Tern Form
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Vao Island (Malekula) canoe prow, of bird form, used and field collected, length 62 cm catalogue note: on Rono, Wala, Aatchin and Vao, just off Malekula in Vanuatu, the canoes of graded men of the Minke Society each had a prow depicting a tern, to help bring the canoe home. This is because the tern never flies more than 15 KM from land and always returns at sunset, so if you are lost at sea and you see terns, you can follow them to a beach. Because of this, the tern is a symbol of a safe homecoming for a canoe.
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